"8 Million Strong and Voting!" Small business is the heart beat of the United States economy. This blog searches for issues and answers to helping small business survive and thrive in California and the United States.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Technology has clearly become a part of our business and personal lives. Do you think this is a good or bad thing.?

On one hand, it has made our lives easier and workers more productive but on the other hand, there are those that believe technology is eliminating jobs. Why hire a person when you can buy a robot?

Certainly communication has changed and improved but there are those that will say we have become dehumanized. For example in my company I have stressed that email is great but pick up the phone and talk to people. That interaction is important to build relationships. Can you build a relationship with Facebook Emails, Text messaging and Twitter?

Any other thoughts about technology?

How important are tech jobs in your community?

What is your age?Under 3030 to 50Over 50I hope you are enjoying the Holiday season and that you spend time with your loved ones. It is certainly a special time of year and a time to reflect on our blessings. All the best to you, your family and your employees in 2014.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

"Tax Agency Votes to Release
Over a Quarter-Billion Dollars to Small-Business Owners

Elimination of Automatic Security Deposits at the Board of Equalization
a Big Win for TaxpayersSACRAMENTO – Michelle Steel, Vice Chair of the State Board
of Equalization, announced today that the Members of the Board have voted
unanimously to eliminate the agency’s automatic security deposit requirement
and begin the process of releasing over $296 million to small-business
owners."To continue reading, please click here.

At
a recent U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) meeting, I meant someone from
Prosper Funding, LLC. Prosper is a peer to peer lending program. It is an
interesting alternative to the traditional loans and investing options. This is
a big asset for Small Businesses since it connects you directly to an investor
as the investor chooses the investment that fits them. Check it out,
I had my assistant try it out and it gives you an instant quote by plugging in
basic criteria.

Monday, December 16, 2013

Our Manager of Government Affairs, Lori Kammerer put this piece together on the Unemployment Insurance Program. Small Business California has been part of the working group. Read below and let me know if unemployment insurance would be an issue for you if it increased dramatically.California's Unemployment Insurance Program – is the insurance fund that pays state jobless benefits and is run by the Employment Development Department (EDD). EDD owes nearly $10 billion to the federal government because the state has been paying more in jobless benefits than it has been receiving in employer-paid taxes. The federal government has been paying the difference since 2009, including penalties and interest. It is expected that California won’t be able to pay off the debt for at least 10 years, so the Governor and Labor Agency Secretary convened an advisory group comprised of management and labor to figure out a way to pay for the employer-financed program and pay off the debt…click here to continue reading.I thought it might be helpful to put the timeline for individual coverage under Covered California. 2013December 23rd - last day to enroll for coverage effective Jan. 1st, 20142014January 15th - last day to enroll for coverage effective Feb. 1st, 2014February 15th - last day to enroll for coverage effective Mar. 1st, 2014March 15th - last day to enroll for coverage effective Apr. 1st. 2014March 31st - last day to enroll for coverage effective May 1st, 2014December 15th - last day to enroll for coverage effective Jan. 1st, 2015*Open enrollment for 2015 begins Nov. 15th, 2014 and lasts until Jan. 15th, 20152015January 15th - last day to enroll for coverage effective Feb. 1st, 2015

*These dates are subject to change by Covered California.

You cannot enroll for individual coverage in the Months of May through the end of year except for special circumstance like change in family status and job based healthcare.I want to thank Micah Weinberg, PhD from Bay Area Council for helping me with this.

I don’t usually talk about my company but being that Small Business California was involved in the creation of B Corps in California, I am pleased to tell you CAL Insurance is now a B-Corp. Just got word today that we passed the test for this designation!

The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) will hold public workshops to solicit input on the draft regulations for the California Competes Tax Credit program, an income tax credit available to businesses that want to expand, relocate or stay and grow in California. At the workshops, GO-Biz will provide an overview of the enacting legislation, discuss the draft regulations and welcome feedback from the community. Additional details regarding the CA Competes program and the upcoming workshops can be found here.

GO-Biz serves as California’s office for economic development and offers a range of services to business owners. Those services include attraction, retention and expansion services, site selection, permit streamlining, clearing of regulatory hurdles, small business assistance, international trade development, assistance with state government, important informational briefings and much more. For more information visit: www.business.ca.govor contactJorge.Jaramillo@gov.ca.gov.

Monday, December 09, 2013

Over the last week I have found that there is a lot of misunderstanding about the ACA or lack of knowledge exist about the ACA. Let me state some information that may be important to you.

The ACA defines full time employees as 30 hours. If you have a group health plan you must offer coverage to anyone that works 30 hours with some exceptions. Many small businesses in the past have defined full time workers as above 30 hours. This changes Jan 1st, 2014.

[Note: you can reduce the definition of full time to 20 hours but this is not required under ACA. You cannot provide on your group plan employees who work less than 20 hours.]

An employer cannot pay for an employee’s individual health policy and have the payment be on a pretax basis. This was not the case prior to ACA.

If you provide coverage for employees on your group policy you are not required to provide dependent or spouse coverage. Each case needs to be looked at closely but if you have less than 50 employees you may not want to offer coverage as that will disqualify the spouse and dependents from receiving any subsidies from Covered California. If you have 50 or more employees you are required to offer coverage to dependents.

If you have a Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) and your employees have money in the HRA, which provides coverage for some Minimal Essential Benefits, the employee will not be eligible for subsidies in Covered California. This becomes effective Jan 1st, 2014.

[Note: Minimal Essential Benefits do not include Dental and Vision. These are called Excepted Benefits]

Individuals who purchase health coverage from Covered California and are eligible for subsidies receive the subsidy based on the Silver Plan. The individual then has the option of purchasing a Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum with the Silver plan subsidy.

Under the Small Business Health Option Plan [SHOP], the employer chooses the Metal level and the employee must choose the option available only at that metal level.

What questions do you have about ACA?

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Last week I sent out a survey about employer health coverage. Thank you to all that responded. The most interesting results were about 15% of the respondents said they would be dropping their health insurance. Very few people responded to the question of whether they felt their employees would buy individual coverage but everyone one that did did not think their employees would purchase coverage.

About Me

Small Business California is a proactive, non-partisan business advocate whose only agenda is the well being of California’s 3.2 million small businesses. Working for all small businesses for a better business environment, SB-Cal is responsive to the needs of small business owners.
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